Mobile learning is based on tangible technologies which is the touch and the interaction that theses tools allow for the student to perform better while learning.
Tangible technologies (or assistive technology devices) are any technology, tool or device that can help carrying a task by challenging the nature of the learner or his disability. It gives high interaction between virtual/digital and physical world without using the traditional inputs and outputs such as the mouse or the keyboard.
Now, tangible interfaces are a very new version of interaction between the individual and the environment. For my point of view, it is the future of eLearning (watch this video).
The student can be on his computer doing and trying things in the other side of the virtual environment. He can convert his learning into reality in seconds and experiment new perspectives in science and math and in many other subjects that need trial and experimental activities. It is a 3D manipulative interface that helps people move and manipulate objects simultaneously while they are in fact in separate environments. The revolution of assistive technology into tangible 3D interface will help all types of learners, including special needs students, to learn in an effective way.
How does it work?
Tangible interfaces are changing the meaning of social learning and behavioral interpretations of the learner. From 3D printers to expressive robotics, tangible interfaces introduced us to physical and embodied learning that we can manipulate from far away and it remodel us in the way we react and behave as mentioned in the video above.
Now, another version of tangible interfaces is the ZeroN.
It is to create a zone where gravity is manipulated by the computer so that things can float in the air. The user can touch them and put them back to air again without falling on the ground. the movement of the human user can be remodeled by the computer. Now, imagine such technology in your school, the computer will reflect in front of your eyes the realistic movement of the planets. The instructor will have so many WHAT IF demonstrations to show to his students with this type of interfaces. This magnetic controlled zone of the ZeroN can facilitate the understanding of many physics and can change how we communicate our ideas to the others and our thinking.
Benefits
O'Malley and Fraser (2004), discussed the benefits of tangible technologies when these technologies were at their primitive versions. They emphasized that it is a promising technology that has the capacity to give multi-sensory interactions (Antle, 20017) and physical engagement (Manches and Price, 2011) that it can open new learning way for both students: normally developing and disabled students.
The aim of this technology is to increase interaction with the physical and the digital environment. It is
Comments